


Pine

by The_Epitome_of_Pretense



Series: The Yuletide Nick Fic Challenge [8]
Category: Fallout (Video Games), Fallout 4
Genre: Angst, F/M, Fluff, Fluff and Angst, Kissing, Memories
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-02-06
Updated: 2020-02-06
Packaged: 2021-02-27 19:33:18
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,515
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22591039
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/The_Epitome_of_Pretense/pseuds/The_Epitome_of_Pretense
Summary: Nick and Sole have a disagreement.
Relationships: Female Sole Survivor & Nick Valentine, Female Sole Survivor/Nick Valentine, Sole Survivor & Nick Valentine, Sole Survivor/Nick Valentine
Series: The Yuletide Nick Fic Challenge [8]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1575460
Comments: 4
Kudos: 38





	Pine

A lazy wind drifted through the pines in Far Harbor. The morning was cool and crisp, and a peaceful stillness lay over the National Park Campground. Now that the feral ghouls had been cleared out, Nick and Sole strolled through the grounds with little apprehension. He even dared to wrap an arm about her waist as they walked. It was unwise to do so in places where they would need quick access to their weapons, and he was too private to do so in the cities. It was nice to relax a little. He liked the feeling of her arm around his waist, too. 

“Did your family go camping much?” She said, letting her eyes rove about the campsite’s remains. 

“Most summers, yeah. You?”

“Not really. I told you, I didn’t get out much.” Her gaze landed on an old camper that still had most of its turquoise paint. “I remember as a kid thinking that those were the most interesting things in the world. Probably because I had never seen the inside of one.”

“We could change that,” he offered. “You want to?”

She pursed her lips and tilted her head one way, then the other, as if weighing her options. She shrugged. 

“Might as well,” she said, though he could tell from her feigned nonchalance that she wanted it more than she let on. 

They stepped inside, where the thin light of morning caught in the dust motes. The structure creaked as they ventured further in. There was a bed in the far back, and the rest was dominated by counters and cabinets that left only a narrow walkway. 

“I always imagined waking up in one of these,” she said, running a hand along the chrome accents. “When I was little, I dreamed I would wake up with my family, and we would make plans for the day over breakfast. Then, when I grew up, I dreamed of having a husband to camp with instead. And we could have breakfast in bed, and talk of nothing while I admired how the sunbeams fell on his angles.”

He had to admit, those sunbeams did bring out the best in her; he couldn’t ignore how they highlighted the fine, delicate lines of her hand as it rested on the counter. He stepped up behind her and placed his good hand over hers, wrapping his free arm around her middle and resting his chin on her shoulder. 

“Very poetic,” he said. 

“Oh, don’t mind me,” she chuckled. “I’m just rambling.”

“Ramble away. That’s what vacations are for.”

“I thought we were on the job.”

“Not for the next ten minutes or so. As the agency’s founder and namesake, I declare the next quarter hour to be a vacation.”

“Whatever you say, boss,” she laughed. 

“How do you want to spend it?” he said, swaying their hips side to side. “We could take a hike. Go fishing. Make s’mores—you like s’mores?”

“Where on earth do you expect to find marshmallows in the Wasteland?”

“I don’t know what you’re talking about. There’s a row of shops just down the road. We’ll get all the food you can stomach, see what kind of dime novels have just hit the shelves, maybe indulge in a nice rosé…”

He left a trail of playful kisses along her shoulder, wishing her jacket were out of the way. He wondered if she would object to him moving it. 

“You’ve got everything figured out, huh?” she said. 

There was something flat in her tone, as if her mind was elsewhere. Nothing he couldn’t fix. 

“‘Deed I do. It’d be just like the old days,” he said, planting an especially large kiss in the crook of her neck. “Doesn’t that sound nice?”

“Hmm.”

She let him continue, but not with her usual inviting manner. Her thoughts were still preoccupied. He paused, waiting for her to say the thing that was clearly on the tip of her tongue. 

“Nick,” she said, her voice quiet.

“Yeah?”

“Is this all we do?”

He pulled back a little. 

“What do you mean?” he said. 

“I don’t know. I just—I feel like we spend so much of our time reminiscing.” she laced her fingers through his, holding him in a vice grip. “Is that all we have? The fact that we’ve lost so much? That we were both stolen from our time? Is that our whole relationship?”

Something about her tone worried him—it sounded resigned, as if she had already made up her mind about something. 

“That’s crazy talk,” he said. 

“Name something, then. Something we share that has nothing to do with the old days.”

He thought of all the things that brought them together—the books, the dancing, being there for each other in their weakest moments—

A sinking feeling filled him. That was all the past, every bit of it. Relics they clinged to because something was better than nothing. It sent a thrill of fear through his circuits. He scrambled for something to say. 

“We have—” he stammered, “we have finding Shaun—”

“Old days,” she cut him off. 

“Getting rid of Kellogg—”

“Violence?”

“Well—what do you want?”

He broke away. She stumbled against the counter and regarded him with a shocked expression. 

“I don’t know,” she said. 

His fear grew—bigger, deeper, shifting until it became something that nearly made him overheat. Was this why she didn’t want him near? Had something changed?

“You don’t know,” he raised his voice. “You don’t know if everything that we shared is enough for you anymore?”

“Nick—”

“What do you want to do about it? You want to leave? Huh? Is that what you want?”

“I—”

“Is it?”

Her eyes glistened. She opened her mouth to speak, then turned away and burst into tears. 

He watched her shoulders tense and fall with emotion, watched her whole form tremble. And it hit him—this was his doing. After the night he broke her heart, he promised himself that he would never be the cause of her tears again. Yet here they were, and all for him. 

It made him want to scream. 

The anger of a moment ago dissolved. Now he wanted to bring her close—he wanted it so bad that it hurt. He took a step toward her. She stood with a hand on the chipped linoleum counter, the other pressed to her eyes. 

“I had no right to go there,” he muttered. “I’m sorry.”

She tried to steady her breath. 

“I’m scared,” she whispered. “I love you so, so much. I don’t want us to burn out.”

“We won’t, we won’t.”

He chanced to reach out, placing a hand on her shoulder. He scratched his fingers along the seam of her jacket. She laced her fingers through his. 

“You’re the best thing I have,” she said. “Don’t you go anywhere.”

“I don’t plan to.”

He pressed her shoulder, saying without words that he would bring her closer if he could. If she would let him. 

She flung herself into the embrace, wrapping her arms around his middle and holding him tight. 

“I don’t know why I’m like this today,” she whispered into his coat. “I don’t know why I’m so scared.”

He held her tighter, clutching at her clothes. 

“Trust me, there’s enough fear to go around.”

“What are you afraid of?”

“Losing what we have, same as you.”

She let out a guilty sigh. 

“I shouldn’t have brought it up, should I?” She mumbled. 

“I think it’s worth talking about,” he said. “If it’s really a problem, we can fix it. We’ve got a good track record.” 

She nodded. 

“You have a good point. Alright, let’s figure out why we like each other so damn much.”

Now that his thoughts were free from momentary panic, he didn’t have to struggle for an answer. 

“I know you don’t want to bring up the past,” he began, “but when we took down Eddie Winter? We brought a little justice to the world. You can’t tell me that wasn’t a new thing. It was new and we did it together. We’ll always have that. A strong moral code,” he caught her eyes and brushed a lock of blond hair from her face, “and simple kindness to top it off. I’ll love it forever.”

A sad smile broke through her pained expression. 

“I don’t know why I worried,” she said. “A speech like that, and I fall for you all over again. So what if we reminisce too much. We’re old, we get to do that.”

“Damn straight,” he chuckled. 

“Come on, let’s put a little more good in the world.”

She started for the door. He kept her in his arms. 

“Now hang on,” he said. “We’ve got a few minutes of vacation left.”

“Oh?” she grinned. “How should we spend it?”

She cocked her head to the side, in an inviting posture he knew well. 

“I’ve got an idea,” he murmured. 

With that, he leaned in and tended to the unfinished business with her shoulder. And she sighed like the wind through the pines. 

**Author's Note:**

> This plot probably feels rushed, but I'm gonna post it anyway. Maybe I'll fix it later on down the road *shrug*


End file.
